Minor Hotel Group, Qatari Diar Partner For Two Anantara Resorts

Minor Hotel Group (MHG), owner of luxury hotel operator Anantara, has inked a deal with Qatar Diar Real Estate Company to open two new Anantara resorts in North Africa.

Through the partnership, the group will establish Anantara Tozeur Resort in the Tunisian city of Tozeur and Anantara Al Houara Tangier Resort in northern Morocco.

Both resorts are slated to open by 2017, the company said in a statement.

Anantara Tozeur Resort in Tunisia, which is being developed by Qatari Diar, will offer 93 luxurious guest rooms and villas, including pool villas, a selection of restaurants and bars, meeting and business facilities, kids and teens clubs, a health club and an Anantara Spa.

The 230-key Anantara Al Houara Tangier Resort in Morocco will offer a selection of restaurants and bars, a large Anantara Spa, wellness and fitness centres, and kids and teens clubs.

The resort is a part of a larger Al Houara project that Qatari Diar is developing in Tangier along 2.5km of beachfront overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It will also include an 18-hole golf course with golf club and residential homes for sale.

“Our Anantara brand is now well established in the Middle East, with six properties in the UAE and our first resort in Qatar opened earlier this year, and we are keen to add North Africa to our footprint, where these two new resorts will help further develop luxury tourism within these destinations,” said Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotel Group.

“We are looking forward to a strong alliance with Qatari Diar going forward, with scope to explore additional opportunities to expand our portfolio in the wider MENA region.”

Cashing in on the region’s travel and tourism boom, Anantara has chalked out an aggressive expansion strategy.

The group, which opened its first luxury resort in Doha earlier this year, is aiming to open 50 new properties between 2013 and 2015.

Apart from its Doha property, Anantara operates Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, two resorts on Sir Bani Yas Island and the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa, Anantara in Abu Dhabi. In 2013, it opened Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa, the company’s first property in the emirate.